Riley Leonard Draft Pick Excites Colts Fans as Depth Behind Anthony Richardson, Jones

The Indianapolis Colts added depth behind Anthony Richardson on Saturday, selecting Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard with the No. 189 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Leonard joins a quarterback room that also includes Richardson, Daniel Jones and Jason Bean.

Fans praised the draft choice.

Leonard spent the first three years of his college career at Duke before transferring to Notre Dame ahead of the 2024 season.

He thrived in his lone year with the Fighting Irish, as they finished with a 14-2 record and made an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

In 16 appearances, Leonard completed 66.7 percent of his throws for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions. He routinely made plays with his legs, rushing for 906 yards and 17 more scores.

Entering Day 3, Leonard was listed as the No. 5 quarterback and No. 58 overall player still available on the latest big board from Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department.

B/R NFL Scout Dame Parson highlighted Leonard's ability to adjust plays at the line of scrimmage in his scouting report.

"Leonard plays with a calmness that NFL coaches should appreciate," Parson wrote. "He does not appear to get too high or too low, no matter how the game progresses. He is in full command of the offense at the LOS to make audibles/play changes and set the protection based on the pre-snap defensive look."

Colts head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard were "huge fans" of Leonard for "quite some time" prior to selecting him on Saturday, per Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz.

Leonard is expected to spend his rookie season learning under Richardson and Jones on Indianapolis' depth chart.